| The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give. — Walt Whitman Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness. — George Sand It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm. — Sam Levenson Anything that is of value in life only multiplies when it is given. — Deepak Chopra Someday I will be dead and the only thing people will remember about me will be the kind things I did. That thought makes today a true adventure. — Bill Purdin If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way. — Buddha Anonymity is the truest expression of altruism. — Eric Gibson On loneliness is where kindness weaves its most elegant fabric. — Bill Purdin What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. — Albert Pine When I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why the poor are hungry, they call me a communist. — Dom Helder Camara Riches and power are but gifts of blind fate, whereas goodness is the result of one’s own merits. — Heloise Compassion is the basis of all morality. — Arthur Schopenhauer Blessed are those who can give without remembering, and take without forgetting. — Princess Elizabeth Asquith Bibesco Never discourage anyone … who continually makes progress, no matter how slow. — Plato Let a good man do good deeds with the same zeal that the evil man does bad ones. — Shalom Rokeach It’s great to be altruistic in the universal sense, but if you don’t really care about people one-to-one, it’s hypocrisy in the extreme. — Bill Purdin If you must give advice that’s hard to hear, make it easy to listen to. — Bill Purdin Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster. Your life will never be the same again. — Og Mandino Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself. — Plutarch Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do. — Voltaire Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else’s life forever. — Margaret Cho The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give. — Walt Whitman It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Kindness is wisdom. — Phillip J. Bailey No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. — Aesop, The Lion and the Mouse Truth is always the kindest thing to say. — Bill Purdin Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them. — A. A. Milne’s Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle. — Plato Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. — Mother Teresa Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear, and the blind can read. — Mark Twain Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none. – William Shakespeare Never underestimate the power of kind word, — Bill Purdin You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. — Kahlil Gibran At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school’s students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question. “Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as the other children do. Where is God’s plan reflected in my son?” The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. “I believe that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself. And it comes in the way people treat that child.” Then, he told the following story: “Shay and I walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, “Do you think they will let me play?” Shay’s father knew that most boys would not want him on their team. But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging. Shay’s father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, “We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield. Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps closer to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, “Shay, run to first. Run to first.” Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, “Run to second, run to second!” By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman for a tag. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher’s intentions had been, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman’s head. Shay ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, “Run to third!” As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, “Shay! Run home!” Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero, for hitting a “grand slam” and winning the game for the team. “That day,” said the father softly, with tears now rolling down his face, “the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine Plan into this world.” The deeds you do today may be the only sermon some people will hear today. — St. Francis Of Assis |
